"I am always willing to ask a critical question, but I am not in the position you are in to say that to him," Vahle replied.
Despite the media backlash, official statistics from meemetoranje.
nl showed that Van Dijk won over 70 percent of his duels during the group stage, including a perfect aerial record against Tunisia.
However, former international Theo Janssen also expressed dissatisfaction with how the defender affects the tactical flow of the team, particularly regarding midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
"I must say that it is not easy either, with the Dutch national team.
Virgil van Dijk plays behind you… He does not even dare to dribble in, he plays everything wide or into Frenkie's feet.
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Frenkie really has to do everything and really has to pick up the ball. Our defenders play Frenkie in too often," Janssen said.
